Four whalers were purchased by the Admiralty and strengthened for special service in the ice--the _Isabella_, 385 tons, and _Alexander_, 252 tons, for Baffin’s Bay; the _Dorothea_, 370 tons, and _Trent_, 250 tons, for the North Pole. Captain Buchan, R.N., who had recently been employed on the Newfoundland coast and had made an important journey into the interior of that island, received command of the _Dorothea_ in the Spitsbergen and North Pole expedition, with Lieutenant John Franklin as his second, on board the _Trent_. Buchan’s first Lieutenant was Arthur Morell, with Charles Palmer and William J. Dealy as mates, George Fisher as astronomer, and Cyrus Wakeman as clerk. In the _Trent_ with Franklin were Lieutenant F. W. Beechey, son of the artist Sir William Beechey, Andrew Reid and George Back, mates, and Alexander Gilfillan as surgeon. This expedition left the Thames in April, 1818, and was at Lerwick on the 1st of May. The _Trent_ was leaking badly, and every effort to find the place, while they were at Lerwick, failed. It was a serious matter, as half the watches were occupied in pumping, which entailed a great amount of extra labour, when the ordinary work was almost as much as they could do. On entering the icy region Buchan’s expedition was met by a furious gale, and took refuge in Magdalena Bay. The expedition was fortunate in its historian, for Morell, the first Lieutenant of the _Trent_, was a man of high literary attainments as well as an accomplished artist. The attack on one of the boats of the _Trent_ by walrus is as admirably described by his pen as it is portrayed by his pencil. He also relates the ascent of “Rotche Hill,” 2000 feet high, and describes the little-auks or ‘rotches’ flying in such crowds that thirty came down in one shot. It was calculated that 4,000,000 were on the wing. When the two ships again put to sea they were driven into the pack-ice north of the north-east point of Spitsbergen. There was a heavy swell, and the huge masses of ice were crashing and grinding together, breaking in pieces, and covering the sea with brash ice for miles. All night they were striving to keep the ships’ heads to the sea, while the leak in the _Trent_ increased, and all hands were at the pumps. Pressing along a lead to the north of Cloven Cliff, they were stopped by the ice, and laid out ice anchors. Here they were beset for 13 days. The leak on board the _Trent_ had long been a serious drawback to her efficiency, indeed ever since she left the Thames. At last its position was discovered. Old Sir George Back used to tell the story. The Assistant Surgeon, when lying half asleep in his berth, thought he heard water flowing into the ship below the deck. He listened and feeling sure, he reported. The spirit room was cleared, and it was found that a bolt-hole had been left open. A remedy was at once applied and, to the great joy of all on board, the work at the pumps was no longer necessary.